Ever felt buyer's remorse on your CPU?

[Pinecallado]

A couple of months ago when I was building my first computer I decided to chose a intel i3 cpu with intel graphics 4000 because I never planned to use my cpu for anything more than a htpc. Turns out I eventually got a high end gpu for it and started video encoding for fun.

The FPS I get encoding with this cpu isn't that good at all. I thought the virtual cores and quick sync was suppose to make encoding with a i3 pretty olay. I regret not getting a i5 from microcenter when it was just $30 more for $165.

My next cpu will probably be a i7 though...

 

[lopri]

started video encoding for fun.

You never know if you are going to keep having fun encoding videos. You could pursue it to perfection or you might decide it a pointless exercise.

Having said that, a quad-core is probably a bottom line for DIY CPU purchases in 2013 unless the system is a special-use case. So I sympathize with your remorse.

 

[JAG87]

Holy crap yes. A couple of Intel extreme models. Yes, I did get slightly higher over clocks than most people who over clocked by bus speed, but looking back... it did not justify the money I spent. And they de-valued like crazy after one generation. It was bar none the worst financial decision I made in my younger enthusiast years.

 

[aigomorla]

no... because i always understood YMMV.
So it was either i got lucky or not.

And i think i was at 80% lucky before i sort of retired.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

A couple of months ago when I was building my first computer I decided to chose a intel i3 cpu with intel graphics 4000 because I never planned to use my cpu for anything more than a htpc. Turns out I eventually got a high end gpu for it and started video encoding for fun.

The FPS I get encoding with this cpu isn't that good at all. I thought the virtual cores and quick sync was suppose to make encoding with a i3 pretty olay. I regret not getting a i5 from microcenter when it was just $30 more for $165.

My next cpu will probably be a i7 though...

What program are using using to encode?

QSV is generally really fast.

 

[Red Hawk]

The only CPUs I've bought directly were a C2Q Q6600, to swap out with an E6600 in my old prebuilt LGA 775 rig, and the 2500k I have now. Did I regret the Q6600? A little; I asked around on AT to see if it was a good idea, they said no, it'd be better to save my money and build a whole new rig. But I was impatient, and went ahead got the Q6600 only to build a whole new rig with the 2500k about six months later. But ultimately I think it was good to get the experience of swapping out a CPU before building a whole rig from the ground up, and my brothers have gotten a lot of use out of my old rig since I handed it down to them.

Now my 2500k? I've loved the hell out of it. It overclocks past 4 GHz, easily, for 60% clock speed advantage (I wasn't able to OC the Q6600 with the mobo in my old rig). Definitely worth the purchase, and I think I'll still be using it for years to come.

 

[CHADBOGA]

A couple of months ago when I was building my first computer I decided to chose a intel i3 cpu with intel graphics 4000 because I never planned to use my cpu for anything more than a htpc. Turns out I eventually got a high end gpu for it and started video encoding for fun.

The FPS I get encoding with this cpu isn't that good at all. I thought the virtual cores and quick sync was suppose to make encoding with a i3 pretty olay. I regret not getting a i5 from microcenter when it was just $30 more for $165.

My next cpu will probably be a i7 though...

I've said before that for me, there are probably only really two Intel CPU's I would consider, taking into account what Intel charges for their various CPU's, and that is something like a Pentium G3220 or an i5 4670K, as nothing else seems to make much sense to me.

So if I was wanting a basic HTPC only, then I would go with the Pentium G3220, rather than spend around twice as much for an i3.

The main reason why I am completely unenamoured by the i3, is that if the Pentium doesn't provide enough computing power for me, then for the modest premium in dollar terms, an i5 seems a much better buy than an i3.

So yeah, I get why you are now feeling buyer's remorse.

 

[TridenT]

Yeah, of course. I've had this with almost every CPU. I got a E7200 with 2x4850 instead of going with a single 4850 and getting a Q6600. The Q6600 would have been a better decision for the long haul and no crossfire issues. Also, could have gotten a much cheaper motherboard. Oh, that was regret for sure. ($280-290 motherboard. Just had to have those 2 full x16 PCI-E lanes rather than 1x16 and 1x8...) I had a couple E6300's before that. Those were GREAT value for the money. I got all of them well over 3GHz. (Sold the computers. Basically only upgraded on the GPUs)

Currently, I just bought an i7-4770 and just found out about the i7-4771. It was available when I bought the i7-4770... It might have even been the same price. :| That was like, "Ah, fuck. That's what I get for not searching enough."

Similarly, I've been interested in doing PC game streaming. It's starting to sound like I might need an i7-4770k at like 4.3Ghz to get really good transcode rates. Even then, it's sounding like the real pros use a separate computer for streaming. (They duplicate monitors and send the DVI out to another computer that captures the media and does all the encoding on it. I think I could buy an old i7-2600k or i7-940 that could do that job just fine)

 

[Idontcare]

Ever felt buyer's remorse on your CPU?

Thankfully, no. I've been lucky and pretty much found a way to enjoy every processor I have bought.

That said, I have bought some silly expensive ram that turned out to provide practically zero performance benefit and I regretted that purchasing decision. (a mistake I won't make twice)

 

[OBLAMA2009]

lol that a dude would get i3 instead of i5 just to save $30

 

[BallaTheFeared]

People argue to the death over $5, so $30 by comparison is a huge amount.

 

[Gikaseixas]

When i got a AMD Athlon 3000+ (wouldn't overclock much), Pentium 4 1.8ghz (anemic performance) and a Celeron 500mhz (just complete crap)

 

[SPBHM]

sure, Pentium 4 2GHz in 2002 (not as good as cheaper AMD CPUs), A64 3000+ Winchester in 2005 (terrible for overclocking),

 

[Murloc]

I never regretted my CPUs.

I had a E8500 which was great to try out overclocking and was fast, quad core wasn't necessary back then, then I switched to quad core with the first generation of i5, which was a solid choice in the middle and works fine to this day, it's not limitating.

I think what is easier to regret for enthustiasts is wasting money on a motherboard for features they don't really need, or wasting money on multi-GPU setups when single-gpu is enough for your needs.

 

[frozentundra123456]

Two actually. First was a celeron, 600mhz I think, and windows ME. I moved from that to a P4 at 1.5 ghz. Both were complete crap. Those were both before I really became knowledgeable about computers. After that I was very happy with my purchases, an athlon xp 2600 that could be my favorite ever, then an E4500 and the latest was a SB i5. I actually expect the i5 will be my last desktop system, barring mechanical failure. I game a lot, but don't play online, and an satisfied with relatively modest settings.

I actually still have the athlon system, and still use it occasionally just for nostaliga. The e4500 has a TV tuner, and I still use it for recording TV.

 

[Piroko]

sure, Pentium 4 2GHz in 2002 (not as good as cheaper AMD CPUs), A64 3000+ Winchester in 2005 (terrible for overclocking),

Got an A64 3200+ Winchester just a couple of days before I learned about the Venice stepping as well, that annoyed me slightly. Other than that, flawless purchases. But I did get some buyers remorse with HDDs and GPUs here and there.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

That said, I have bought some silly expensive ram that turned out to provide practically zero performance benefit and I regretted that purchasing decision. (a mistake I won't make twice)

That was me when I built my i7 920 rig with some 1866MHz Elpida Hyper IC memory. Thankfully it hasn't failed on me yet.

As to the original question about regretting a CPU purchase I raise my hand and admit. I think it was the FX 60, when an opteron 170 was able to reach the same overclocks. Thankfully I sold the chip a few yrs later for ~ 315$ on eBay.

So far my recent favorite CPU purchase was this little Xeon L5639 1366 socket, 32nm, 6 core, 60w chip for my daily cruiser rig. : )

 

[Kougar]

I strongly regret my 4770K purchase, actually. Paid for the "K" premium but the chip couldn't go past 4.2Ghz.... now that isn't even stable anymore as chip has degraded. I have to run it at 4Ghz now and no telling how long that will last.

I wish I had bought the 4770 which doesn't have VT-d and TSX disabled, VT-d likely would have improved the VMware loads I run regularly that max out the chip. Can't speak for the future, but at the moment I may not ever buy an Intel unlocked chip again... utter nonsense they charge a price premium for an "overclocking" marketed chip they can't even be bothered to use solder on, then disable features on it for good measure. That the initial launch batches were incapable of overclocking was just insult to injury.

 

[blackened23]

Thankfully, no. I've been lucky and pretty much found a way to enjoy every processor I have bought.

That said, I have bought some silly expensive ram that turned out to provide practically zero performance benefit and I regretted that purchasing decision. (a mistake I won't make twice)

This mirrors my thoughts. Did you buy Rambus RAM, by chance? I did as well and in hindsight....I loved my P4 system at the time but why oh why did I pay the Rambus RDRAM premium.

 

[Rainer]

Ever felt buyer's remorse on your CPU?

Depends on how you define "buyer's remorse," really. Some people probably wouldn't even call it that if you find out only months later that there might have been a product with better bang for the buck.

I just built a Xeon E3-1200V3 system in order to retire an Opteron 6128 purchased in 2011. This step will increase performance (as per Cinebench 11.5) by 67%, and decrease power consumption by 62%. With 20/20 hindsight, I feel that I shouldn't have bought that Opteron system in the first place, and I'm still stuck with $1000 worth of RAM that I can't use with the new one.

If you want to include such cases regardless of the (whatsoever) "proper" definition of "buyer's remorse," then yes, I certainly did.

 

[Puppies04]

Saving $30 to get an I3 instead of an I5 sounds bad. If you were 100% sure you would never need more than the I3 then it would be sound advice but I really don't see how that can ever really be the case (except in a tiny percentage of cases) with the way software advances over time.

 

[BrightCandle]

I don't really regret buying the 3930k but with all the revelations its certainly proved to be a flawed product compared to what I thought I was buying. Finding out that VT-d and PCI 3.0 weren't really supported and then finding out the reviews were done on engineering samples that overclocked significantly better than the retail chips was just a lot of disappointment combined. While some software I use seems to benefit more would have benefited from a 2600k with high clock speed so its turned out in hindsight to be the wrong balance.

In general this X79 machine has been a pain in the backside. I have RAM fail, motherboard failure, SSD weirdness and a pair of GPUs that barely worked and a whole bunch of hard to replace fans are failing. I am annoyed at the entire machine really, its been one problem after another continuously for 2 years. But its not really buyers remorse, I don't feel like I made a bad purchasing decision at the time but knowing what I know now I would have done it differently.

Really most of the problems I have had were with GPUs rather than CPUs, I regret those purchases more than anything and did days after I got them (7970s). The purchase of the 680's was with a heavy heart that I had little choice but to fix it but at great expense. I was elated they worked but remorseful at the sheer cost of getting my machine up and running. Pretty much every part in this darn machine except the CPU is a replacement.

 

[IGemini]

I did for a while when my previous main was upgraded from an E6600 (the original Conroe) to a Q9650. At the time I was using the P5W DH board which doesn't allow for voltage adjustments on Yorkfield CPUs, so I was stuck at stock. Not long after Nehalem was released, I decided to upgrade the board to the P5Q Deluxe instead of a whole new system and managed to overclock to 4GHz, but balanced it out at 3.6 at a lower voltage than stock. Even up to Sandy Bridge I didn't feel like I missed out on a lot of improvements, so I was okay by the time Haswell released.

 

[fixbsod]

Nope. The reason why? I never cheaped out or bought the ridic top top top chip.

 

[ehume]

My previous build had an i7 875k. Compared with the i7 860 I bought a year earlier, it was a bust. Oh, it ran OK. But I would have done just as well with an i7 870, the then-current cpu.

So, a little buyer's remorse. But I learned a lot of lessons from working with it, so I guess I can rack it up to education, and the experiences I had were the tuition I paid to get that education.